caulfield12

How can you go 0 for the season on pitchouts? We've missed on 6 or 7 opportunities so far. Might as well not even bother, Ozzie.

QUOTE (Chisoxrd5 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:19 PM) A nice pass by Rios. Good to see. No runners left on base that inning, either. You'd like to maybe see Rios try for a stolen base there or a hit and run. What else can you do? Hanging slider there, one of the first that got spanked by Washington.

The only situation for a White Sox signee that got this brutal was Cory Snyder, at least in my memory. I hope we're not getting past the point of no return with his season and psyche being salvageable. Need to get back out on the road. We can only have so many more anemic offensive (literally/figuratively) showings like this before some changes are made.

AJ calling a pretty solid game so far. Perfect pitch selection to get Ramos. Now let's get some runs, PLEASE? About 60 pitches through 4 innings is progress for Edwin.

QUOTE (Chisoxrd5 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:08 PM) I hate to say it, but I have never watched less White Sox baseball than I have this season. They are incredibly boring to watch. Paulie is the only everyday player worth the price of admission. Not Ramirez (offensively and defensively) or Quentin? Thankfully, Viciedo can add some excitement to this team. And we're almost back in this race. Being close the division lead makes the boring games somewhat more palatable.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:05 PM) I have to say again, I truly believe this is the most boring White Sox team I've ever seen... Hard to argue with this...I guess some of the mid to late 80's teams because they always hit about .237 and almost never hit any homers in the old stadium. 2007 and 2009 weren't very much fun, either. If Rios, Dunn and Beckham all played up to their capabilities, even Pierre, you'd have one of the most exciting offenses in the game.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 07:56 PM) Yes, but you're not legitimately trying to be positive. You're overdoing it to make a point that honestly, is not really helping. I think we should be open to the possibility of anyone here changing. Maybe not 180 degrees in 24 hours...but to find some kind of "happy medium." We all make adjustments and refine our viewpoints in order to get along with everyone else and play nice.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 07:55 PM) I honestly cannot understand how they keep trotting him out there every single day, getting the most ABs. I'm not trying to be a dick but what does Ozzie see in him? He has been so ridiculously ineffective that it baffles my mind how Ozzie doesn't see what I'm seeing. He got a walk and set the tone early by getting to 3rd with no outs. He increased his OBP. I'm actually done thinking about him negatively and won't even bother to get upset anymore, it's just wasted emotion.

This game will definitely be in the Boras/E-Jax FA road trip video highlights package.

At least we're consistent in our predictability with RISP. Didn't realize that Werth already had 6 errors this season, that's a lot for a corner OFer.

LF Morse CF C. Young RF R. Sweeney 3B Fields SS ?? 2B Getz 1B B. Allen DH C.Carter C Olivo Former Sox farm-hands "all-star" team...seems like I'm missing someone. That outfield wouldn't be bad at all, but the infield, yikes.

No comment. Really surprised they pitched to Konerko instead of going after Dunn and Rios, but he took a solid pass at an 0-2 pitch. Just can never seem to get over the hump with RISP this season.

Seems Jackson has his dominant slider going tonight. Just don't let Werth, Zimmerman or Morse beat you....should be okay. AZ has fought back now, 4-3 lead for DET. Quentin is expected to be back (from his personal leave) at some point during the game and be available to PH.

Who's the Tigers' "geographic" rival they play 6 times per season? I know the Twins have Mil, KC/STL and CLE/CINCY. Is it Pittsburgh? Sucks the Tiggers missed Hudson by a game. Already leading the DBacks 3-0, although Phil Coke isn't exactly Cy Young. Of course, they get Zach Duke. Well, we got to face him too, I suppose. Make that 4-0 and threatening to completely blow it open.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 03:53 PM) Caulfield - you refuse the directly answer the question I asked, despite doubting that this white sox team was "climbing" on the previous page. To this point, what winning percentage would you have needed to see over the past 43 games to convince you this team was "climbing"? You also claim that Minnesota has done a better job of "climbing"... Does their recent 15-2 stretch mean more to you than the 8-25 they immediately did before that? If so, shouldn't the White Sox most recent stretch of 26-17 mean more to you than the 4-18 they put up previously? The Twins have now lost their last two - does that mean as much to you as the two games the White Sox lost up in Minnesota? There is a serious double standard at work here. Even if the Twins go 19-0 against the White Sox, they have go .500 against everyone else just to win 84 games. Does anyone honestly think they can do either of those things? How can there be an answer to a hypothetical situation that's absolute? Before the season, would anyone have predicted 84-88 games would win the AL Central with how Minnesota and Chicago looked? Beat the Twins, beat the Tigers, defend the home field advantage and play .500 on the road. Anything above .575 would be good.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 03:22 PM) Let's go back to May 6th. What winning percentage since then would you have liked to have seen to convince you this team was "climbing"? .700? .800? .900? Whatever percentage will put us in first place on the last day of the season. Since we put up a 4-18 stretch that has taken us 6+ weeks to recover from (at that point, 7-4 and on the verge of beating Oakland before you know what happened)...and we went 15-3 in interleague last year (6-3 now), this year we'll just have to settle for our current 2/3 trend. As long as we do that against Minnesota and Detroit from here on out, we'll win the division.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 01:51 PM) Indeed. I think it's extremely encouraging that we're only 4 1/2 out with so many guys underachieving. Is that indicative of the division? I don't think so. Our guys have hung in there and are in position to go on a run. Deep down inside I feel confident that will clear the hurdles and overcome the obstacles. Did Chris Rongey or Brooks Boyer hack into your account the last hour? The next thing is that people will be getting upset with you for being "fake J4L" and only posting reasonable, optimistic and patience-laden posts. Funny, though. It feels like you were killed off by Kevin Bacon's X-Men super villain and replaced by Katie Couric on uppers.

I think he's going to have to learn how to draw a slightly better representation of The Tank, but the rest is spot on. Like the idea of Lillibridge diving off Viciedo's shoreline into the water for another game-saving catch, too. Or Peavy's "lat" as the anchor. Good stuff.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 02:57 PM) Going from 11 under to 3 under is climbing. Nevertheless, it won't feel like we're really climbing until we break out of this constant "2-5 games under .500" range or band we've been in for weeks, seemingly. Hopefully, tonight. Who knows how Washington will react to the loss of their manager, though.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) That's a good example. I just thought of something, let's say you had that exact post, and put in there a few times the words, "in my opinion" or "I may be mistaken but" then would it not be hyperbolic and more suitable? I still think a lot of the hyperbolic posts come when somebody responds to another hyperbolic post. Well, the way I stated it was more concrete or forceful, not brooking debate or the possibility of any other viewpoint having validity. When you add "I think/it appears/maybe/it seems/perhaps/isn't it possible?" that does take a little of the starch out of it. That last comment...is part of this whole general discussion. When someone posts in this manner (and certainly J4L isn't the only one, we all do it from time to time)...then human nature is to respond to someone with equal force. Maybe you wake up in the morning, see that Daniel Hudson now has 9 wins and you say "too bad KW isn't being eviscerated in the new Moneyball movie, he's made the worst trades/acquisitions of any major league GM over the last 2-3 seasons. Surely, half the knowledgeable posters at WSI or SoxTalk could do a better job than he has done with half the ego...if I was the GM, I would have kept Thome and Daniel Hudson and we'd have at least 2-3 more AL Central titles, etc." Anytime you use those phrases like "best/worst," you're always going to get into trouble because they're so overused. Literally, if you search "Juan Pierre" and worst in the same sentence, you'll probably get 20,000 responses from various message boards. Is he the worst LF in baseball? Well, that's very subjective, and certainly many people believe he is. That Ozzie DOESN'T is the only thing that counts, but that's where the hyperbole also comes in. If Ozzie is playing someone who many believe to be the worst LFer in the game, especially in a park known for homers and offense....then maybe Ozzie's also the worst manager in baseball, etc. Gordon Beckham's the biggest bust....Alex Rios or Jake Peavy is the biggest waste of money....Mark Teahen is the biggest waste of a roster spot, etc.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 02:11 PM) If this isn't hyperbole, I don't know what is. This team is 4.5 games out, and climbing. If they don't make the playoffs this season, I agree that changes need to be made. It boggles the mind that you would boycott this team as they continue to gain ground in the division. I'm not sure how much of it is climbing and how much of it was the Indians going 4-14 and falling back to the pack. Probably a little of both. I think Minnesota going from 16 GB to 6-7 game back is a better definition of climbing. I don't think it is just Milkman...the skepticism runs deeply through the White Sox fanbase. How else can you explain the lack of sellouts against the Cubs? Granted, that run last year gave everyone SOME degree of hope that we could get back into it again this year, but just because it happened once or citing the example of the 2006 Cardinals doesn't mean something is LIKELY to happen again. In general, the White Sox haven't played very well at home for most of the last 2 1/2 seasons...with the obvious exception of the 30 game stretch last year when they were beating everyone over the heads. What is perplexing to me is why players like Beckham and Quentin have struggled so much at USCF. Dunn, this year. Or Chris Sale, where he pitches like an ace on the road and falls apart at home. Yeah, I know this will happen occasionally, statistical variance, etc. But it really seems to be an entrenched trend now. Some of the players have even mentioned they feel more relaxed and comfortable out on the road, away from the pressure and expectations of and the fans and media. Obviously, Soriano's comments have helped to stir this idea and keep it alive. Still, the fans' "lack of belief" shouldn't be an excuse for the players to use as a crutch when they lose or don't perform well. Do we have too many "psychologically fragile" players who are too sensitive to what is written or said about them? If so, what can be done to address this issue? It's also a stretch for me to imagine that Dunn, Rios, Beckham, Edwin Jackson, Floyd and Pierre (just giving a few examples) would always perform well if we had only polite, sell-out crowds who unconditionally support the Sox. It feels like a ton of players have come up short in front of big home crowds, upon returning from successful road trips, or in "big series" match-ups.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 02:09 PM) 1.) That was a great post by Harry. My favorite White Sox teams have been the ones capable of coming from behind. Hopefully the second half the law of averages kicks in and the Sox have some comeback wins. Harry also mentioned the big three of Dunn, Rios and Pierre. Any discussion concerning any of those three guys will result is something unpretty. And any thread titled, "Hudson just violated Kenny" has trouble written all over it. 2.) I hate the 'R' word and the other 'R' word. Just seeing them kind of sicken me and make me feel bad about society. 3.) I hate the word hyperbole. I think it stems from high school. I never understood it from my English teacher at Brother Rice then, Mr. Perry, and don't understand it now. I'll use an example from your neck of the woods. Before he won the national championship, "Bill Self is the worst in-game coach in the NCAA. His teams always choke. All he can do is recruit...he's just a snakeoil salesman the boosters, alumni and students love for reasons beyond my comprehension. Why they can't see the real truth is beyond me. The average Hallmark Cards creative director with no basketball experience could stand on the sidelines and win 35+ games with his teams every year."

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:33 AM) I really don't think Lillibridge is going to take IF playing time. Not only because Vizquel is there...but because he's been so bloody good in the OF that we're going to keep that division. Teahen will cover the corners occasionally and piss me off constantly when Ozzie benches Morel for him because Morel is a righty, Vizquel will cover up the middle IF, and Lillibridge gets the whole OF. With the lack of any other true backup OF on this team, putting the Stealth Elf in that role actually is quite sensible. No need to blow his knee out while playing the IF or get him thinking about other positions. Ideally, you'd just boot Teahen off the roster and use Milledge or DeAza to give you a more potent bench, but that's never going to happen. I agree that Lillibridge is our best defensively outfielder, at least this season. Rios COULD be better, but he's been inconsistent compared to what we've seen out of him in the past...especially with taking bad routes to the ball. Morel has weathered all those early-season errors and apparently has earned a bit of Ozzie's respect.

QUOTE (since56 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:25 AM) The utility role is a very important one. This player plays almost as much as aregular, but at different positions. Lilli plays his best ball when fulfilling that role. Make him a regular and you lose your utuity man and diminish his success. leave him in the utility spot. Have him,Pierre,or Vizquel lead of as one of them will be in every game. 4.5 games back makes me think the Sox can win this division with a hot streak and some consistent play. Lets go Sox! Unfortunately, my feeling is that Ozzie believes Pierre has to be in there every game to get a rhythm established and get hot again offensively. You might see Vizquel and Lillibridge taking more time from Beckham/Morel/Dunn/Rios, but probably not at the expense of playing time for Juan YET. It seems Juan has another 10 games or so to play everyday...then, depending on the standings and if he's showing ANY signs of progress with OBP, AVG and being more aggressive again on the basepaths, they'll see how far they can ride it out into June as long as they're within 5 games or so.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:17 AM) The problem is not that people are saying bad, mean things about Ozzie, KW, Dunn, whatever. It's that people feel the need to pile on and on and on, and that people never want to engage, discuss, or back things up...just yell louder. Balta is the best moderator in the known universe!!! I don't even think it's necessary to say "mean or bad" things, you can still do it in a way that's polite. Something that is loathsome is when subtle (or not so subtle) racist comments are directed at Pierre. That almost makes me want to go all greg775 and defend him incessantly if for no other reason than to be contrarian or echo Rongey/Ozzie.